Criminal Behavior

An awareness of the relations between animal abuse and other criminal behaviors is vital for the public, law enforcement and other professional disciplines that encounter animal abusers in their work. Animal cruelty is a criminal offense that often may related to other forms of criminal behavior such as:

animal fighting operations

drug possession and distribution

possession, sale and transport of illegal animal species

gambling

tax evasion( from illegal gambling, fighting and breeding operations)

violence ( including homicides)

weapons ( illegal possession and use)

Given these realities, it is highly appropriate to view animal cruelty as a public safety and human welfare issue.

Warning! Graphic Information

Courtesy of the National Link Coalition

Considerations

Children’s acts of animal abuse are some of the strongest and earliest diagnostic indicators of conduct disorder, often beginning as young as age six and a half (Ascione, 2001).